76Likes
Cost of living is actually a decent shout. I didn't really consider that. The nicer parts of Glasgow probably represent much better value than areas of similar quality in Edinburgh. It depends how much you treasure having a city on your doorstep.
In my opinion, areas like Millingavie, Bearsden, Newton Mearns are proper suburbs and aren't well connected to the city without a car - compared to say the Meadows, Morningside, Bruntsfield in Edinburgh which are actually in and part of the city. Glasgow's equivalent to those areas would be the nicer parts of the West End,
And the football hooliganism thing is being massively overplayed. You could live your life in either city and be almost oblivious to the existence of football. Some people are just absolutely terrified of football fans (understandable tbf) as they didn't grow up in that sort of environment.
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09-07-2021, 09:14 AM #71
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09-07-2021, 09:15 AM #72
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10-07-2021, 03:24 PM #73
Glasgow sounds a bit like New York City to me based on what I've learned in this thread.
One of my childhood best friends emigrated to NYC from Hong Kong back in the 70s and his family has been living in Brooklyn every since. They lived through the worst periods of time (in terms of crime) in NYC in the 80s and 90s, but since the turn of the millennium, the city has transformed itself through gentrification into one of the safest big cities in the US.
New Yorkers are known to be brash and brusque, but they are also some of the coolest and most fun people I've ever met in my life.
Stirling seems promising - you had me at "Wallace" (I assume that's William Wallace) and "Castle" (I love history and castles)!
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10-07-2021, 04:06 PM #74
Since I started this thread last week, I've received PMs from some of you asking me why I chose Scotland to spend my post-semi-retirement years.
Here's the reason - the Scottish people. Specifically, the friendliness of the Scottish people.
I've been blessed to have met a few Scots (in both HK and North America) in my life. Some were my college buddies; others ex-bosses and ex-coworkers. I got along swimmingly with each and every one of them and thoroughly enjoyed their company at different stages in my life.
I love their bluntness and friendliness, their wicked sense of humor, and their pride in their beloved homeland. Doesn't matter whether they are from Dumfries and Galloway in the south or the Shetland Islands in the north, they are proud Scots through and through. Even I felt Scottish after spending a night drinking with them in a pub!
Also, it doesn't hurt that my childhood best friend, my family dog, was a Sheltie-mix! Scotland rocks!
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10-07-2021, 04:08 PM #75
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10-07-2021, 04:11 PM #76
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10-07-2021, 06:28 PM #77
I have no problem living among sports fans and hooligans. I spent one year in the 90s co-managing a British pub in Lan Kwai Fong and was constantly surrounded by drunken soccer and rugby fans from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. They were loud, proud and patriotic - a lethal combination!
I was warned by my Glaswegian boss (the General Manager of the pub) and male co-managers (all of them from the UK) that these loud-mouthed hooligans could get really rowdy and start a brawl at the drop of a hat after downing a few pints. In the 12 months I worked there, there were zero brawls happening on my watch, only "lively" arguments among these burly patriotic sports fans. I guess they felt sorry for this skinny 5'4" Chinese woman with an American accent trying to keep the peace among her multinational customers!
I was also lucky to have lived in Edmonton during the Oilers' heyday. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about - here's a brief explanation. Ice hockey is not a sport - it's a religion in Canada, and the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup (hockey's equivalent of the Super Bowl) 5 times between 1983 and 1990 (during the time I was in Edmonton). Edmontonians, who lived and breathed hockey like there's no tomorrow in the 80s, were normally mild-mannered and polite folks, but if you dared say anything remotely negative about their beloved Oilers and the Gretzky/Messier/Kurri trio, they would strangle you with their bare hands, especially if you were from Calgary (Edmonton vs Calgary - Edinburgh vs Glasgow)! Regional rivalry is nothing new to me.
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11-07-2021, 09:22 AM #78
<<Corrib said>>
In time, as you acclimatize you may start to notice differences, but relative to other places its very friendly regardless of which city you choose
Last time I was in either location was 1966 (Prior to putting on a large rucksac & setting off "On the thumb" round the world hitch-hike around the world to get out of the evil influence of bastard Harold Wilson and his "Pound in your pocket" falsehoods!).
Anyway; I already was aware to keep well out of range of any "Glasgow Kisses"
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13-07-2021, 02:42 AM #79
I have lived and worked in both for several years each but am from a completely different part of Scotland so I have no real bias towards either. The first thing you have done right is pick the two best cities in Scotland. Both very different though.
My gut instinct before living in either told me I would prefer Edinburgh and that is where I lived first. Before living in either, I believed Edinburgh would be a little more upper class, less trouble and still have good travel links to Glasgow. I thought I would fit in more with the people there.
I will break it down from your key points and then add some of my own...
1) Music and Arts - both are great but Glasgow will always edge it on music. It's the biggest city in Scotland and attracts every big act along with every indie act and everything in-between. In terms of art, I'm not a huge art person but Edinburgh has the National galleries and the Edinburgh Festival. I have to say, the National galleries is an alright day out but the Edinburgh Festival is NOT a good time to live in Edinburgh. You cant move, the place is stuffed full of tourists and lots of drunk people. Glasgow is famous for museums, art scene and has Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art and a bunch of others. Edinburgh has it's castle.... but there are castles everywhere in Scotland so you will get bored of visiting these after the first few and it's more of a one off day out than a reason to actually base yourself somewhere. I'd say your initial impression of giving the edge to Edinburgh is incorrect, I'd actually give this to Glasgow.
2) Crime - if you live in a nice part of either city and stay out of Hearts/Hibs/Celtic/Rangers scheme type areas then you will have no trouble. Just apply common sense. It's not Hong Kong, don't go wandering around in the late hours alone in a poor area (which I imagine you wouldn't be near anyway). Do you have an accommodation budget in mind? If you have a high budget, the West End of Glasgow or a nice part of Haymarket, Leith or New Town in Edinburgh City Centre may be good options for you. There are also really nice parts of Glasgow like Shawlands, Strathbungo etc. on the South side which are a bit cheaper but still really nice and trendy with easy links to the city. I would stick to areas close to the main city if you wont drive. There are really nice leafy suburbs around Glasgow but you really need to drive to live in them.
3) Public transport - coin flip, neither are great.
After living in both, I found that against my initial thoughts, I preferred Glasgow. Both locations have an abundance of trendy cafe's, excellent food, things to do and good travel links. However, the people are what make a city and I found myself gravitating more towards the people of Glasgow. They seemed friendlier to me, more down to earth and much more grounded. I found a lot of people in Edinburgh to be a bit "uppity" and the city centre felt much more touristy to me than Glasgow. When I lived in Glasgow, I still frequently travelled through to Edinburgh for a day out but I found myself happier to be based in Glasgow and exploring the hidden gems dotted throughout the city. It was just a bigger place with more things to explore. The cost of living was definitely higher in Edinburgh too without really feeling like my lifestyle was higher than in Glasgow.
Happy to answer any questions on both and any other questions you may have on living in Scotland. I would love to hear how you get on after you make the big move too. Scotland is a great country and I will without doubt move back there at some point.
UPDATE -
An update having read through the thread properly. Some clearly tourists giving opinions on first impressions. Edinburgh is a good city and it may appear very welcoming on first impressions but when you look deeper you realise this is sometimes because the city is used to tourists and exchanging pleasantries.
Glasgow is a great city with character. In terms of trouble, you will find trouble in either city if you go for a walk through Easterhouse or Niddrie at the wrong time (or sometimes, anytime). Even in the city centre of Edinburgh, any local knows that walking through the Meadows late at night could result in either a mugging or a sexual assault if you have bad luck. I managed to live in both for many years with zero issues just by applying common sense.Last edited by RDB14; 13-07-2021 at 02:55 AM.
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13-07-2021, 05:19 PM #80
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Originally Posted by FrancisX:
